{
  "id": "R45038",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R45038",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 576347,
      "date": "2017-12-07",
      "retrieved": "2018-05-10T11:54:58.171560",
      "title": "Efforts to Address Seasonal Agricultural Import Competition in the NAFTA Renegotiation",
      "summary": "The United States has initiated renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. Among the Administration\u2019s agriculture-related objectives in the renegotiation is a proposal to establish new rules for seasonal and perishable products, such as fruits and vegetables, which would establish a separate domestic industry provision for perishable and seasonal products in anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) proceedings. This could protect certain U.S. seasonal fruit and vegetable products by making it easier to initiate trade remedy cases against (mostly Mexican) exports to the United States and responds to complaints by some fruit and vegetable producers, mostly in Southeastern U.S. states, who claim to be adversely affected by import competition from Mexico. \nMexico\u2019s production of some fruits and vegetables\u2014tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, berries, and melons\u2014has increased sharply in recent years, in large part due to Mexico\u2019s investment in large-scale greenhouse production facilities and other types of technological innovations. Some claim that this investment is supported by government subsidies and should be addressed through higher countervailing duties (CVD) on U.S. imports of these products. They also claim that these imports are sold to the United States at prices below the cost of production and alternatively could be countered by higher anti-dumping (AD) duties. Concerns have mostly focused on U.S. imports of tomatoes, peppers, and berries.\nThe Administration\u2019s seasonal proposal is among the more contentious of the agricultural proposals reportedly considered by U.S. negotiators. The proposal would likely require changes to U.S. AD/CVD laws by allowing growers to bring an injury case by domestic region and draw on seasonal data. Under current law, an injury case must be supported by a majority (at least 50%) of the domestic industry. The Administration\u2019s proposal could reportedly allow regional groups\u2014representing less than 50% of producer nationwide\u2014to initiate an injury, even if the majority of producers within the industry, or in other regions, do not support initiating an injury case. Also, under current law, three years of annual data is necessary to prove injury, whereas the proposal would allow for the use of seasonal data to prove injury.\nThe seasonal proposal has divided the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry, and opinions are split between producers in some Southeastern states and producers in other states, such as California. Opinions in Congress are also divided. Some in Congress support the seasonal proposal, claiming that such a change is necessary to address perceived unfair trading practices by Mexican exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables. Others in Congress oppose including the proposal, contending that seasonal production complements rather than competes with U.S. growing seasons. They also worry that this change could open the door to retaliation by U.S. trading partners and to the imposition of similar regional and seasonal remedies against U.S. exports. \nMexican trade officials also do not support including a seasonal AVD/CVD proposal as part of the NAFTA renegotiations, nor do they support limiting access for some products. Some reports indicate that Mexico is considering retaliation by including its own list of protected products in response to the U.S. proposal. Such a list could include certain grain and pork products and other types of limitations to protect Mexican products in certain production areas. \nThe U.S. food and agriculture industries have much at stake in the current NAFTA renegotiations. Canada and Mexico are the United States\u2019 two largest trading partners, accounting for 28% of the total value of U.S. agricultural exports and 39% of its imports in 2016. Under NAFTA, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico has increased sharply, rising from $8.7 billion in 1992 to $38.1 billion in 2016.",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4829,
          "name": "Agricultural Trade & Food Aid"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4893,
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  "topics": [
    "Agricultural Policy",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs"
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}